Truffulas in Time
by Zombiecatfire13
Summary: Takes place in the movie form of The Lorax.  The Lorax is badgered to sending Audrey back in time, where she meets the Once-ler of the past... but is the timeline in danger? Of course it is! Now Ted is involved, as well is a future Once-ler... what a mess


Audrey's bright eyes roamed across the gray desolation that surrounded her. She went outside the city often to get away from the overcrowded bustle of it all. Thneedville was great and all, but having everything so "perfect" all the time got… well, boring. There were never any playful breezes, never any animals that weren't bound to their masters… never anything NEW. Thneedville was static, as tightly organized as the over-processed pop songs that often played across the streets. It was lighthearted and fun, bure, but it was so emotionless and predictable.

Audrey wanted something new! Something wild! She wanted to be part of a song that was free as the wind (not the sour kind they had now) and playful as bar-ba-loot cubs (before they left, that is), using rich instruments lost on human ears for—

"You okay, Audrey?" the Lorax asked gruffly, looking at Audrey with a mildly puzzled expression on his scruffy face. "What?" said Audrey absently, toying with a blade of grickle grass. "Hey, Audrey! Snap out of it, girl!" The Lorax stood over Audrey's head (as she was sprawled on the ground), snapping his furry fingers in front of her face. "Wha—" Audrey started to say, attempting to lift her head to see who had interrupted her melancholy daydream, when her forehead collided with the Lorax's.

They both let out a cry of surprise and pain, Audrey sitting up to see the Lorax rubbing his bruised head. "Ohmygod, I'm sorry!" she squeaked, tugging at her dress her dress nervously. "Eh, it's fine," the Lorax said, squeezing his eyes through his newly-found headache. "What were you so focused on, anyway?" Audrey's hands relaxed, dropping the rumpled blade of grackle grass from their grip, "oh… i-it was nothing," she said nervously. The Lorax crossed his arms, giving her and incredulous glance. "Hey, I just got your skull branded on my forehead. At least tell me what it's thinkin'." Audrey smiled slightly, "well, okay. It's not like it's a secret, anyway."

"The reason any of this happened is because I wanted to see a tree…" Audrey began, but was cut off by the Lorax, saying, "not that 'any of this' is a specific enough choice of words for this situation, but I get your point." Audrey continued, "but I don't think that's enough. That tree is going to take years to grow, and even then, it's still surrounded by all that plastic. The citizens of Thneedville are starting to revitalize the surrounding area, but that's going to take even longer. I just want to see the world without everything all neat and organized! I just wish SOMEONE could…" Audrey didn't even bother finishing that sentence. Wow, she was STUPID! She wanted to see trees, and she was only JUST NOW realizing that she was talking to a magical guardian of the forest!

Unfortunately, the Lorax didn't seem to pick up on that. He simply stared at her as if she was going to finish the sentence. "…If only SOMEONE…" she repeated slowly, accentuating the words with her hands. The Lorax finally seemed to understand her meaning. "OH, no! Nonono!" he said, waving his hands in an x pattern. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, firecracker, but I can't do that. I don't have the power to bring the trees back to life. Believe me, I would've already." Audrey enjoyed the Lorax's peculiar nickname for her, given for her red hair. "But you must be able to do something!" she insisted. The Lorax preened his moustache, "Well, THEORETICALLY I could take you back in time to a time when the trees were still alive—" the Lorax cut himself off mid sentence, but Audrey was already staring at him with all the intensity of a dingo watching a baby. "Y'know when I said 'oh, no, no no no?' I should've saved that for right now," the Lorax said, but to no avail. Audrey's eyes were wide with wonderment. "You can DO that?" She exclaimed, "and don't bother saying 'no, I was joking'!" There went the Lorax's first plan. "But that's just THEORETICAL!" The Lorax stated clearly, "doing that would really have some serious consequences."

"Like what?" asked Audrey incredulously. "Well… the Lorax pondered, tapping his lip, "first of all, there's be two of me. The universe can't handle that much of my mystical energy in the same place for too long."

"Then we'd leave quickly," Audrey countered.

"You might change the past," the Lorax countered x2.

"I'm not a paradox-causing idiot," Audrey huffed, "next."

"Erm…" the Lorax was running out of good reasons, "I can only travel to the past and back."

"That's a stupid limitation."

The Lorax shrugged.

"Also, I don't care," Audrey added. "I… I'm not good at time travel! Who knows where we'll end up! Or… when, or… whatever! You get it!" And Audrey did indeed understand. "Anywhere's better than here," she said darkly. The Lorax slumped in defeat, "what will it take to convince you that messing with time is a BAD IDEA?" Audrey raised an eyebrow, "probably some terrible and unexpected misadventure," she answered wryly.

"Okay, okay," the Lorax said, "suppose I DID take you to the past…" Audrey's face brightened, her whole figure straightening in excitement. "Not that I'm sayin' I WILL," the Lorax added quickly, "You'd have to PROMISE not to cause any trouble." Audrey forcefully took the Lorax's hand in a deal-making shake. "There!" she told him, "that means you've officially promised me that you're going to take me to the past!" The Lorax flicked his furry hand, "you're worse than a certain scrawny woodsman I know…"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The next day, Audrey stood waiting where the Lorax had told her to. She stood beside the fallen jumble of rusted axes that jutted from the old Once-ler's long disused wood-cutting machine. She guessed that the Lorax had told her to wait there to scare her, to show her the "horrors of the past". She was frankly disappointed at the little man… thing's… feeble attempt. It's not like this old thing was ever used as a tool for mass genocide (she didn't think trees counted). Mist and fog swirled around her, causing her to cough.

At some time around the agreed meeting time, for who could truly tell among nothing but smoke and oil and rust, the Lorax approached, his bright coloring diffusing across the dense fog. Audrey folded her arms and leaned smugly against the tree-chopping machine, demonstrating just how not scared she was. She immediately jumped back from the machine as it uttered a loud, groaning creak, earning a chuckle from the Lorax. "How 'bout it, fearless Amazon," he said smugly, "think you're ready to see a forest? It makes some mighty scary noises now and again." Audrey's face flushed, almost matching her hair, "of course I am!" she stammered, "let's go, already!" The Lorax gave her a hard look, "I guess there's nothin' I can do to change your mind."

"Nothing!" Audrey stated firmly, "and if you keep being obstinate, I'll throw you out of Ted's scooter while it's traveling at top speed!" The Lorax didn't know much of anything about physics, but that sounded bad. Even though Audrey was a little girl, she could still throw him off a scooter. "Sheesh, firecracker, cool down," the Lorax said half-jokingly, "I'll do it, I'll do it." The Lorax motioned for Audrey to take his hands, prompting Audrey to kneel and do so. The world faded to white and Audrey felt weightless, and the world started spinning around her. A cacophony of noise met her ears, a blurred vision of swirling landscapes met her eyes, mixing with the white nothingness, creating an impossible blend of worlds. And then Audrey's world went black.


End file.
